This poor neglected blog....

Man! I haven't did a hair update in like forever! I a relaxed on June 15 and I'm 6 weeks away from the next one.

My hair is a little fragile right now for some reason, but I'm enjoying the growth. I wore it down for 2 weeks but up it goes into my protective ponytail tomorrow. lol

I'm doing a protein treatment and a moisture conditioner. I'm actually looking forward to the break. I can just get up and go.

I think my hair vitamins and JBC are working. I'm still on track for mid back by December.

Relaxer Update- Spring

Oops... I forgot to post my last relaxer which was April 12 or 19, 2012 i think. I have to check my pics on my phone which I misplaced today *sigh*  I may be 4 or 5 weeks post with 3 or 4 weeks until my next relaxer.

The Hunger Games - Capitol Colours Collection

I still haven't seen The Hunger Games and it seems to me the fever surrounding the film is dying down, but I'm STILL obsessed with getting The Capitol Colours Collection by China Glaze. Although I'm late to the party I wanted to acknowledge this collection. I didn't want to jack All Lacquered Up's whole post so please check it out here to see each color swatched.  The colors are awesome! Chloe's Nails did and awesome artistic interpretation with Electrify  check it out here

My favorites are: Fast Track, Argo, and Electrify

Nail Polish Alert and things I think are pretty

Sometimes I'm late to the game when it comes to current beauty products, but once they're on my radar I can't get them out of my head until I get it.

My latest lusty is the blue by Essie called Mesmerize. Such an appropriate name! It's about 3 years old but it's new to me and once I'm rocking it it will be new to All. LOL! This color is SO Hawt! I can't wait to get a pedicure done with this color. I usually only like frosty shades but I'm loving the flats lately too.

Beyonce looked haute rocking it too!

Product review: Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment

I try to do this treatment one week after my relaxer to bring strength back to my hair and to coat my hair with protein to prevent and protect from breakage.

 The Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment is a serious deep protein treatment. If you don't know what you're doing then it should only be done by a professional.

It instantly stops shedding and strengthens hair. I notice the difference immediately.This is the ONLY deep protein I use.

It's a two step process. First you apply the protein treatment all over your head and then sit under a warm  dryer to allow the treatment to harden usually about 30 minutes.

During this process DO NOT manipulate hair. This can/will cause breakage because the hair gets hard and brittle.

The second step is the MOST important. Use the deep moisturizing conditioner that comes with it to bring your hair back to life. I sit under the dryer for 30 minutes to allow the moisturizer to set.

Because I like/want my hair silky and extra moisturized after this process I added a third step. I use Silk Elements Mega Moisturizer under the dryer for another 30 minutes. When done style as usual.

I tweeted that every time I do one I can't help but think of the two step song and...well...two step LOL!

Relaxer Day! 1-16-12 Let's Be honest!

Well... I finally relaxed my hair! Remember my new goal is to relax at 8 weeks. It grew a lot and 10 weeks is seemingly just TOO LONG! :(

My last relaxer was not great so I had course sections all over my head but mainly on the left side of my head.

I let it get to coarse and the two different textures tangled and I lost a LOT of hair :(
so its thinner, longer but thinner. I scratched my scalp a lot before so there were scalp issues. I did not have my Seabreeze so I have some scabbing but it's nothing I can't handle. By the way, slightly diluted Seabreeze is a great antiseptic to pour on your scalp after a burny relaxer. I'm not gonna lie  IT BURNS SO BADLY and you should have a cool fan ready to fan your scalp BUT it prevents scabbing in your scalp.

I used the same relaxer as in previous posts. I won't be jumping around to different relaxers this one does me just fine. I did a good job of relaxing this time. It is really straight! :)

Although my hair is thin for some odd reason I am extremely happy to have my length almost back to where I need it to be.  My hair length being tied to my self esteem is just... But I feel prettier with long hair.

I may not reach mid back by June, because some trimming will need to happen but I will be content with full thick bra strap length.  Dec 1 will be my new MBL goal.

I plan to regain my thickness by relaxing on time, taking my hair vitamins, sleeping on a silk/satin pillow case, tying my hair up and using castor oil. Let's hope I stay on course and begin to "treat my hair like silk" again.

It's relaxer time...and I don't want to do it.

WHY IS THIS WOMAN'S PICTURE ON THE INTERNET?

I need a relaxer so bad right now. Like today!! But I'm not in the mood to do my hair AT ALL.
Send good vibes and strength my way! I mean... Christmas is Sunday!! I can't be looking ratchet!!

Relaxer Day! 11-6-11

This post has been in the queue forever oops!

I relaxed today at 9.5 weeks! I used my usual Soft and Beautiful  relaxer (regular strength) I used creamy Vaseline around my hairline for protection and it helped a lot! I tend to get relaxer all over my neck and ears.

I used the Motions conditioner to cover my previous relaxed hair to prevent over processing. That conditioner is super thick!

I started the relaxer and applied it to my new growth and smoothed it in the allotted 20 minute time frame using the stop watch timer on my phone.

It took me 5 neutralizer washes to rinse out all the relaxer. The shampoo kept being pink. It was weird. After my final rinse I applied my VO5 moisturizing for about 5 minutes because my poor hair felt stripped.

I then used semi permanent color Beautiful Browns in midnight black under the dryer for 45min. It seemed as if the formula for this has changed too. It was really inky black. Me no likey. I think I'll use dark brown next time.

After the color, I conditioned with my Silk Elements Mega Moisture conditioner under the dryer for 30 min. rinsed and t-towel dried and applied my Infusium leave in. I air dried, detangled and protective styled with twists.

So that's it 3 weeks late. 5 weeks until touch-up time.

Product Review No. 8 and....

Motions Moisture Plus Conditioner

Avocado oil and honey infuse each strand with ultra-moisturizing conditioners to detangle, hydrate and add silky shine.Silk protein helps fortify. Panthenol, silicone and glycerin saturate the cuticle to help repair and renew.

I told you all in an earlier post that I was taking it back old school. By that I mean I’m using all the old products that helped my hair grow long in the first place. From 2003 through  summer 2008 I had the best hair of my life lengthwise. It was long, healthy and thick. Life was good and stress was low. Fast forward and all hell broke loose. I was laid off from my high paying job, my lifestyle changed and adjustments had to be made.

One thing that suffered was my hair. I use to go to the stylist every week and left the care of my hair in her hands. So after my job loss, one thing that had to change was my hair appointments. I started getting my hair braided by a family friend and the styles were cute. The one thing that I "forgot" is that I don't wear braids well. My hair hates it. No matter how much I care for it in braids it still results in hair loss. I thought since it had been 10 years maybe that had changed, sadly it had not. During that time, in and effort to get to know my own hair I also decided to go natural. This ended up being a major FAIL! When I removed the braids my hair was a total disaster. I made an appointment and my stylist was like WHOA! What the heck have you done? My ends were raggedy. My hairline was near ratchedness, and the line of demarcation between relaxed hair and natural hair was a disaster! I ended up getting another relaxer and after it was blown out you could really see the damage.

My stylist said it had to be cut and I was crushed. Then my hair was subsequently cut to my neck. I was devastated!! I had not had short hair in forever. Anywhoo, after my cut it has been trial and error trying to find what products work for my hair to get my health and length back.

...Wait this is supposed to be a product review.

I started this post to talk about this Motions conditioner that I worked into my hair journey. There is so much information on the nets about silicone being bad for your hair. Well before I knew this, my hair grew with "cone" products and trying to be silicone free was not working for my hair. I took it back old school and bought this conditioner and my hair has been doing fine since I worked it in. I started using it for my mid-week cowash and condition. So if you don't have a fear of silicone give it a try! It has enough good stuff in it to cancel out the supposedly bad.

If at first you dont succeed...

Keep trying!

I started using the Infusium and Queen Helene cholesterol conditioner in August and saw immediate results. Both products combined did great things for my hair.  I washed my hair, and deep conditioned with the QH for about 30 minutes under a hood dryer.  After that I moisturized with Silk Elements MM for an additional 30 minutes.  After my conditioning treatments I then used the Infusium as a leave in and styled. I highly recommend these products!! Get you some son!

My hair was softer, more manageable and easy to detangle and grew so much from August to September. It was thick, healthy and felt so strong I was VERY pleased with the results.

You would think with all this progress I would continue my weekly regime to continue to reap the benefits of the products but I did not. Sadly I slacked off after my relaxer September 4^th and my hair immediately showed the difference! My hair tangles easily when I don’t constantly care for it. With a relaxer one of the key components is maintaining moisture in the hair. Without moisture the hair gets dry, brittle, sheds more and will break off.  Because of my laziness I did seemingly shed more than usual resulting in thinner hair.

I keep learning the same lesson which is achieving long healthy hair is truly a journey. There are no shorts cut. It is a maintenance system that must be sustained if you want to see results. Any deviation from your plans can result in hair loss.

 I am currently on a castor oil challenge to thicken my hair and try to recover the thickness that my hair was finally starting to show.

Taking it back old school

Lately I've slacked up on everything in my life and I want to get back on track. I've decided to take it back old school style and reintroduce some old stables to my HHJ (healthy hair journey)

I remember before my hair first started growing long I was regularly going to the hairstylist getting fly cuts and color and then I just stopped. Once I stopped with all the flyness my hair started growing. My routine was simple my hair was washed, conditioned and wrapped. I used Infusium 23 as my leave in and I deep conditioned with Queen Helene Cholesterol Conditioner. I recently reviewed my master list of products and realized these old staples are on the list! Color me EXCITED!!

Infusium 23 has new formulas at the store but you can still find the original formula at the beauty supply and that's what I did. I took a trip to the beauty supply and purchased both products. I went to the Bea.uty Ware.house and it's huge so I needed assistance locating the stuff.  Once I was led to both products by customer service I was a happy camper!! My instincts were reconfirmed when the salesperson said "that's the right stuff right there." I smiled because I'm already knowin!! lol

Once I get going with it, product reviews forth coming. I truly hope the formulas are the same or better and benefit my hair.

4th of July Relaxer Day!

I relaxed July 4, 2011

I wore my hair down 2 days only. The people at work were like you wore your hair down! It's long and pretty.
Me: Not yet but Thanks! The next day it was back in a ponytail.

It grew but I trimmed about 2 inches. My ponytail made the ends ratty to me so they had to go. I will do better with protecting my ends.

This cycle I will take the vitamins and get back to washing and deep conditioning every week. I will do my protein treatment this weekend. I'm doing castor oil this next ten weeks and I am going to try this Nexxus shampoo and conditioner. Product review coming soon.

I'm excited about the next few months. My goal is still mid back or waist length by June 2012

Relaxer Day!

Okay so I decided to just go ahead and relax today at 5.5 weeks! My hair was having a hard time with the two textures. Lots of ridiculous shedding and it was soo course.

I used my usual Soft and Beautiful (regular strength) I based my scalp the night before with creamy Vaseline and it helped so much! I only felt irritation in the spots where I couldn't resist scratching. LOL!

I used a cheapie conditioner to cover my previous relaxed hair to prevent over processing.

I started at 6:59 pm and I tried to apply the relaxer and smooth it in the allotted 20 minute time frame. I usually only like to leave the relaxer on 15 minutes but this time I went the full time.

I parted my hair in four sections (thanks Bajan for the reminder) and started by applying the relaxer in the back first. I covered all  4 sections in about 7 minutes. I went back over my whole head with relaxer in the spots I missed which took 5 minutes. At 7:12 pm I started the smoothing process. My hair seemed pretty straight already. It is here that I think I am over processing and rinse too early. I held on for the last 8 minutes and started with rinsing the front hairline. I have a fear of losing my hairline as well...but once I started rinsing it all looked smooth and straight. Yaaay!!

This recap was just as much for me as my readers...because I swear I forget how to relax my hair every time I do it. I am still kinda missing the shop for this step in my journey. This is my 4th time giving myself a relaxer with only 2 successes including this one LOL!

It grew but I don't know how thick it is with all this shedding. It looked right at or right above bra strap length BSL. I was like... really hair Really?  WOW! LOL! I don't know what happened but I got about 2 good inches of growth. I currently have about 16 inches of length. I need about 2.5- 3 inches to be at full (BSL). My sides don't grow as fast as the back of my hair, but am pleased with the overall turnout/progress of this relaxer. I can finally tell it has grown.

I am hoping to reach full BSL by July 4th including my 1 inch trim... I plan to wear my hair out for our family picnic. My family has not seen my hair not in a protective style since Feb of last year after my big chop.
CORRECTION: I wore my hair down for my birthday in March. Its been up ever since.

Product Review No.6

Giovanni Tea Tree Oil Shampoo VS. Shikai Tea Tree Oil Shampoo

Shikai did not give my scalp the tingly cleansed feeling that GTTO did.

and the winner is Giovanni Tea Tree Oil Shampoo!

Hair Mistakes!

So this weekend I decided to pre poo my hair before I washed. I used VO5 volumizing conditioner and grape seed oil. Umm that was a crazy combo as for as my hair was concerned. My hair was sooooooooo tangled when I went to shampoo. It was crazy! I don't know what happened??

Anywhoo I washed with the Shikai Tea Tree shampoo. It is not as fab as the Giovanni Tea Tree shampoo. I then washed with Creme of Nature detangling shampoo( I'm going to be so sad when this runs out) then I conditioned with my beloved Silk Elements. This softened my hair to butter and made it easier to detangle, but it was still a long tedious process. I lost a lot of hair. *sadface*

I will be relaxing next week due to the texlax relaxer 5 weeks ago. I will then be able to assess the damage to my ends. I hope my hair is not paper thin because of this mishap. Guess who won't be texlaxing or pre pooing anymore? Me!

Picture Dump -Hair

Okay so people have been hinting about pics. In my quest to stay anonymous here's what I came up with...



hair after cut growing back




in need of a relaxer



freshly relaxed still wrapped



Birthday hair- flash making me look bald





protective styles



most of all - don't forget to cover your hair with a scarf every nite- sweet dreams

Stylish Blogger Award

Shout out to AfricanPinay5 at Forever Frugal  for bestowing me with this award! Thank you so much!

Since this award was given on my hair blog I will give 7 hair facts.

1. I am trying to grow my hair to MBL(mid back length)

2. When my hair sheds too much I have a full on panic attack.

3. My hair journey seems to be taking forever!

4. My hair was mid back length before. It is APL right now. I am having set backs.

5. I plan to show pics of my growth when my journey is from BSL to mid back MBL and beyond...

6. I love trying new products!

7. I hope to reach MBL June 2012. Wish me luck!

Product Review No. 5 Giovanni Product

Today I washed my hair with Giovanni Smooth As Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo.

Well I have to say my hair does not like this shampoo. I expected something that said "smooth as silk" would have great slip and leave my hair feeling good. Nope! It felt like wet carpet.

I co-washed quickly with VO5 moisture conditioner to counteract the dryness and drawn up mushed feeling my hair had. After rinsing my hair felt back to normal. I'm glad this was a sample and I won't be using it again.

I'm a person with relaxed hair, and this product says it's for chemically treated hair. I have to say this shampoo did not leave my relaxed hair smooth as silk. I keep trying Giovanni products because I've heard such good things!  But I may have to just accept that they are not for me. Oh well on to the next one. LOL!

Product Review No.4 Shi Kai

From the site:

http://shikai.com/index.html

Tea Tree Shampoo: is aromatic and invigorating. The essential oils of tea tree and peppermint leave the scalp tingling and fresh. And our proprietary soap-free ShiKai Extract leaves hair exceptionally soft, shiny and healthy.

Tea Tree Conditioner: contains also contains tea tree, peppermint, Amla and jojoba oils to revitalize and leave hair silky soft, shiny and manageable.

I've mentioned this conditioner a few times in other posts but I haven't done a formal review.

Since beginning my hair journey, I don't have any of the problems I previously had with my scalp. I used to have a real problem with dry, flaky, itchy scalp. My scalp was so easily irritated and it would itch unbearably causing me to scratch until it bled! I use to use special prescription shampoo and an ointment!...because none of the over the counter products worked! Yes it was that bad! I believe I had a hair allergy to my previous relaxer, but it was my stylist's staple so I never said anything o_O! The only problem I may have now is an itchy scalp before a wash day, which brings me to my new found LURVE!!

I was perusing the aisles at Whole Foods and found this trial size version of Shi Kai Tea Tree conditioner and decided to try it. AMAZE!!!

Shi Kai Tea Tree conditioner is amazing!! How can what essentially boils down to a dandruff product be so moisturizing? It is because it contains all the important products that are good for hair! Swoon!

One day before wash day I usually pre-poo with oils and a conditioner and I had read on a few hair blogs that adding tea tree oil to another another oil or to your conditioner would help with itchy scalp. Finding this conditioner relieves me from having to do any of that.

My scalp truly felt amazing after using this product. It did not strip or dry my hair at all. I still followed with my regular moisturizing routine, but as a pre-poo product it will be a staple when I have an itching scalp.

I plan to try the shampoo and may convert from the Giovanni Tea Tree to this.

I must be INSANE!!!!!!!! and UPDATE

Why do I keep going back and forth on relaxing my hair?? Why can't I accept that I can't stretch my relaxer like people with thicker hair?? I must relax at 10 weeks period! I feel like I lost a lot of hair unnecessarily because I'm trying to stretch until the Saturday  the 12th. I should have started preparing to relax on the 26th and relaxed this week  on March 5th. I washed today so now I have to wait. My hair was a tangled mess.

I co-washed with V05 conditioner, I did a 10 min ORS Hair Mayo conditioner for strength then I DC over night with Hello Hydration and Silk Elements Mega Moisture. I had to scraped the jar hence the mix. I also added a bit of coconut oil. So far my hair is LOVING the coconut oil. My hair was really moisturized. It felt strong, soft and smelled great! But tangled. I air dried and did the long tedious detangle process.

I'm all out of my products.

I need to buy more Silk Elements MMC, Hello Hydration conditioner, Shi kai full size tea tree conditioner, the largest rollers I can find for my roller set, and my semi permanent black haircolor in blackest black.

I'll be back next week with my relaxer update! Take care!